BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to temporary water rights for cities with populations no greater than five thousand; adding new sections to chapter 90.44 RCW; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 through 3 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Firm," if used to describe water supply, means a source or supply of water that is continuously available and is not subject to interruption or curtailment under a contract or the terms and conditions of an intertie.

(2) "Intertie" has the same meaning as in RCW 90.03.383(2).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The legislature finds that an application to withdraw ground water filed with the department serves overriding considerations of the public interest when all of the following criteria are met:

(1) The application is either filed or held, through assignment or otherwise, by a city with a population no greater than five thousand at the time the application is filed;

(2) The city has a sole source of firm water supply and that source might be at risk of failure due to contamination or to source location factors including but not limited to steep slope and other geologic hazards;

(3) The city has a comprehensive plan approved under chapter 36.70A RCW and the plan includes an urban growth area that the city will be required to serve;

(4) The city's current water supply is insufficient to meet the future demand forecasted in the plan throughout the ten-year period beginning with the adoption by the city of the plan;

(5) The city has no currently available reasonable alternative source or supplier of water to meet the demand; and

(6) The city has identified a permanent alternative firm supply of water to meet the forecasted demand that the city reasonably expects to become available within ten years of the date of the adoption by the city of the plan.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department shall approve an application to withdraw ground water that meets the conditions of section 1 of this act within one hundred twenty days of a city's request to have the city's application considered under sections 1 through 3 of this act.

(1) The department may issue a permit to the city for such amounts as requested in the application as are reasonably necessary to meet the city's future demand forecasted in the city's approved plan; or

(2) The department shall issue a temporary permit for an amount sufficient to enable the city to safely and reliably meet the city's future demand forecasted in the city's approved plan throughout the ten-year period beginning with the date of application. A temporary permit issued under this subsection may have a duration of no more than ten years, and the department shall cancel a permit so issued earlier if the city obtains a permanent alternative firm supply of water sufficient to meet the demand forecasted in the city's plan during the referenced ten-year period. If a city that holds a temporary permit issued under this subsection files, before the permit's expiration, a verified report demonstrating continued need for the temporary permit and describing the specific steps taken by the city to obtain a sufficient permanent alternative firm supply of water, then the temporary permit must be extended for one or more additional five-year periods if reasonable progress is being made toward securing a permanent firm supply. A temporary permit issued under this subsection is not an appropriation capable of perfection and RCW 90.03.330 does not apply to the temporary permit.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act applies to applications for permits to withdraw ground water, regardless of when the permits are filed with the department of ecology. To the extent that an application was filed before the effective date of this section, this act applies retroactively, but in all other instances it applies prospectively.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 90.44 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.